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According to the Daily Mail, an incident at a nearby chrome plant caused a leak. Russian Chrome Chemicals 1915 company representative Vladislav Oreshkin attributed the incident to an “old slurry tank built in 1960 with violations of health and safety rules.”

Oreshkin said, “The accident today happened on a pipe between a pump and a cleaning station. Some of the water pumped from under the ground went on the surface.”

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Pervouralsk is a city in the industrial Chelyabinsk region of Russia, located on the Chusovaya River in the Ural Mountains. “In Soviet times, some of the chromium-containing water stayed underground and went straight into Chusovaya River. Ten years ago, we launched a system of drainage wells that capture contaminated water and neutralize it. One of the wells got clogged and part of the water went on the surface,” he said.

Photos capturing the bright green slush, credited to Oreshkin, were posted on several social media sites. Men stood on the side of the road talking on phones while taking a closer look. Road crews were seen clearing the oddly-colored mess, while buses and cars rolled past.

As unnerving as the discolored snow might appear, officials assured residents of Pervouralsk they need not worry. The leak will not cause any danger to their health.

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“The situation is under control. Our team was at the site 15 minutes after the accident. We are planning to finish the clean up within one day,” Oreshkin told The Siberian Times.

MidUral Group acquired the Russian Chrome Chemicals 1915 company, which “specializes in production of chrome-containing industrial materials and reagents,” and has participated in an environmental protection program since 2011.

It claims to have taken measures to drastically reduce emissions of harmful substances into the air by 65 times and significantly lowered the concentration of Chromium 6 in the Chusovaya River.

Despite these claims, some people living in Pervouralsk have described a “colorful” rain and snow in the past. Complaints of “throat aches” were thought to be somehow connected to the plant.

Hopefully, the green Grinch will not steal their white Christmas and good cheer and health will abound.